PURELY FUNCTIONAL DESIGNS WILL NO LONGER BE ELIGIBLE FOR REGISTRATION

Designs consisting solely of a shape essential to the functioning of the article will no longer be eligible for registration. A specific example of such an ineligible design would be like the following:

Articles such as reflecting mirrors for parabolic antennae for satellite broadcasting, or electronic circuit coils, in which the technical operation or effect provided by the article is inevitably determined by its shape.
Also, articles such as such as electrical connectors, magnetic cores and so on, in which the form and measurements must be copied exactly due to JIS or ISO regulations, etc.

Practice Tip:

Partial-design applications in which only the connecting portion of an attachment article is claimed to have a distinctive design are especially vulnerable to rejection on these grounds, so such applications should be drawn with care.